updated 04:25 pm EDT, Fri October 31, 2008

Vodafone prices Storm

UK wireless voice and data service provider Vodafone on Friday announced the pricing and availability for the BlackBerry Storm 9500 smartphone, according to news today. The Storm is available for pre-order on the provider's site now, and will be delivered on November 11th. Buyers get several purchase options, including paying £300 (about $480) for the handset when also signing up for a 12-month contract that costs £40 ($64) per month. With the same monthly plan that includes 600 minutes of talk time and unlimited text messages, although with a longer 18-month contract, the device is free.

To drop the monthly fees to £35 ($56) while not having to pay for the handset itself, buyers will need to commit to a two-year term. Vodafone will also offer Best of Talk and Best for Text plans, that, when combined, will include virtually unlimited data and the provider's Find&Go satellite navigation service for free for the first six months of users' contract.

The Storm will be an iPhone competitor, featuring a 3.25-inch, 480x360 touchscreen display with haptic feedback. It will support 3G data networks, and has a 3.2-megapixel video camera. It will also bring an embedded GPS sensor and an accelerometer that will automatically adjust the screen's orientation, but comes without Wi-Fi.